Shaver construction

ABSTRACT

A plurality of cutter blades are mounted on a cutter blade mounting member which is elongated and reciprocable in the direction of its elongation. At least one transversely extending reinforcing wall is provided intermediate the opposite longitudinal ends of the cutter blade mounting member and extends transversely to the direction of reciprocation thereof. The reinforcing wall includes a coupling portion for engagement with an auxiliary component of the shaver which imparts reciprocatory movement to the cutter blade mounting member.

United States Patent 1191 Messinger Nov. 13, 1973 SHAVER CONSTRUCTION 3,332,146 7/1967 Km: 30/4392 3,561,118 2/1971 Antretter 30/4391 X [75] Invent Messmgeri KmnbeYg/TS, 3,643,330 2/1972 Brown 30/346.51 Germany 3,376,642 4/1968 Liska 30/346.5l

[73] Assignee: Braun Aktiengesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Primary ExaminerOthell M. Simpson Assistant Examiner-Gary L. Smith [22] F'led: 1971 Attorney-Michael Striker [21] Appl. No.: 134,681

[57] 7 ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data A plurality of cutter blades are mounted on a cutter Apr. 23, 1970 Germany P 20 19 745.9 blade imouniir'ig member which is elongated and reciprocable in the direction of its elongation. At least one 52 vs. 01 30/4392, 30/346.5l, 30/346.58, transversely extending roinforoing w is Provided 3( /346 6 termediate the opposite longitudinal ends of the cutter [51 1m. (:1. B26b 19/10, B26b 19/04 blade mounting mombor'arrd extends transversely to [58] Field of Search 30/4391, 43.92, the direction of reciprocation o h reinforcing 30/3465} 34658 34659 346 6 wall includes a coupling portion for engagement with an auxiliary component of the shaver which imparts [56] Refe e Ci d reciprocatory movement to thecutter blade mounting UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,319,333 5/1967 Futterer 30/4392 3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDNUV 13 1975 Fig. 1

Inventor h ewa 065M651 69 xii/w -f/fln 1, SHAVER CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a shaver construction, and more particularly, to an improved cutting or shear head for dry shavers.

It is well known that many dry shavers utilize a shear head composed essentially of an elongated cutter blade as an alternativeof synthetic plastic material. Quite.

frequently the synthetic plastic material is filled or reinforced with glass fibers and of course the use of synthetic plastic material instead of metallic material is intended to reduce the oscillating masses of the shear head and the inertial forces which are involved.

The problem with using synthetic plastic material for the cutter blade mounting members is that for the most part these materials have lower strength characteristics than metal, given that members made of the two materials are identical in size and configuration. In particular, and again given identical dimensioning, components made of synthetic plastic material are as a rule of lower bending resistance and have a lower resistance to twisting than identical objects made of metallic material. This has resulted in encountering certain difficulties when makingthe cutter blade mounting members of synthetic plastic instead of metal.

A further consideration in the cutter construction of the cutter blade mounting members is how to connect them in a simple manner with the drive-imparting component of the shaver, that is the component which effects oscillatory motion of the shear head. Evidently, such a connection should be as simple as possible in order to facilitate improved and lower-cost mass production of the parts in question.

SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved dry shaver construction, and especially an improved shear head in a dry shaver.

Still more specifically it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cutter blade mounting member which is composed of synthetic plastic material but has higher mechanical strength than was heretofore available, and which also can be readily connected with the drive component of the dry shave.

In pursuance of the above objects, and of others which will become apparent hereinafter, one feature of the invention resides in a shaver which, briefly stated, comprises a plurality of cutter blades and a cutter blade mounting member mounting the cutter blades and being elongated and reciprocable in the direction of its elongation. At least one transversely extending reinforcing wall is provided intermediate the opposite longitudinal ends of the cutter blade mounting member and extends transversely to the aforementioned direction. It includes a coupling portion for engagement with an auxiliary component of the shaver which imparts reciprocatory motion to the cutter blade mounting member.

The novelfeatures which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic longitudinal sectional elevation showing an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a transverse section through FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail it will be seen thatthe cutter blade mounting member is elongated and essentially comprises two lateral longitudinally extending portions 1, an upper longitudinally extending portion 2, and two transversely extending and walls 3 which connect the portions 1 and 2. It is thus hollow and of substantially semi-cylindrical configuration as the cross-section in FIG. 2 shows. The drawing illustrates how the cutter blades 4 -of which a plurality is provided-- are connected to the mounting member, straddling the upper surface of the latter.

The component C indicates diagrammatically the auxiliary drive component which. is engaged with the cutter blade mounting member in order to reciprocate the latter in the longitudinal direction thereof, that is in the direction of the arrow A. How this reciprocation is effected, and how the illustrated components fit into the overallorganization of a known dry shaver, are considerations which are already known to those skilled in the art and therefore require no detailed description. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,521,093 and 3,319,333.

Substantially midway of the elongation of the cutter blade mounting member are provided two transversely extending reinforcing walls 5 which extend transversely to the direction of reciprocation A and one connected (or of one piece) with the portions 1 and 2. The lower free end of each of the walls 5 has an edge portion from which there projects a rib 6 which'is couplingly engaged with the aforementioned auxiliary component C of the swinging arm B of the dry shaver which effects the oscillatory or reciprocatory movement of the shear head.

The mounting member composed of the portions 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 may be made of a suitable synthetic plastic material, which in accordance with already well known practice may be filled or reinforced with glass fibers.

In this manner I obtain a cutter blade mounting member which to distributes the forces to be transmitted that no excessively high mechanical stresses can occur anywhere in the cutter blademounting member. The transversely extending reinforcing walls 5 so reinforce the mounting member that no twisting or other deformation thereof will take place, so that the mounting member achieves the aforementioned object of having greater mechanical strength than was heretofore the case in such mounting members of synthetic plastic material. At the same time the unitary rib 6 which serves for coupling the cutter blade mounting member with the drive components B and C of the non-illustrated dry shaver motor, permits such coupling in a simple and inexpensive manner, thereby achieving another object of the invention, namely to reduce the expenses involved in a dry shaver construction.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a dry shaver construction, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a shaver, in combination, a plurality of cutter blades; a cutter blade mounting member of synthetic plastic material mounting said cutter blades, said mounting member being of hollow, semi-cylindrical cross-section and having two opposite side wall parts and a top wall part, said mounting member further having an open side and being reciprocable in the direction of its elongation; at least one transversely extending reinforcing wall portion of substantially semi-circular outline provided intermediate the opposite longitudinal ends of said cutter blade mounting member and being unitary with all of said wall parts, said wall portion extending transversely to said direction across the hollow of said mounting member to the region of said open side and having there a free edge; and a coupling portion projecting from said free edge in direction of elongation of said mounting member for engagement with an auxiliary component of said shaver which imparts reciprocatory motion to said blade mounting member. 2. In a shaver as defined in claim 1, wherein said synthetic plastic material is fiber-reinforced.

3. In a shaver as defined in claim 1, further comprising at least one additional reinforcing wall portion similar to the first-mentioned reinforcing wall portion, said wall portions being spaced from one another in direction' of elongation of said mounting member. 

1. In a shaver, in combination, a plurality of cutter blades; a cutter blade mounting member of synthetic plastic material mounting said cutter blades, said mounting member being of hollow, semi-cylindrical cross-section and having two opposite side wall parts and a top wall part, said mounting member further having an open side and being reciprocable in the direction of its elongation; at least one transversely extending reinforcing wall portion of substantially semi-circular outline provided intermediate the opposite longitudinal ends of said cutter blade mounting member and being unitary with all of said wall parts, said wall portion extending transversely to said direction across the hollow of said mounting member to the region of said open side and having there a free edge; and a coupling portion projecting from said free edge in direction of elongation of said mounting member for engagement with an auxiliary component of said shaver which imparts reciprocatory motion to said blade mounting member.
 2. In a shaver as defined in claim 1, wherein said synthetic plastic material is fiber-reinforced.
 3. In a shaver as defined in claim 1, further comprising at least one additional reinforcing wall portion similar to the first-mentioned reinforcing wall portion, said wall portions being spaced from one another in direction of elongation of said mounting member. 